Artificial nail to be applied to natural human nails

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an artificial nail ( 4 ) and to a device ( 1 ) for producing an artificial nail ( 4 ) from a matrix ( 14 ) which comprises a fiber glass laminate and a suitable synthetic resin. The artificial nail ( 4 ) has excellent properties as regards its flexibility and adaptability to the respective individual fingertips or toe tips ( 2, 2 ′). The thickness (d) of the prefabricated artificial nail, a so-called tip, is fairly homogeneous and ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.4 mm. The artificial nail ( 4 ) is attached to the natural nail by means of a special, curing adhesive ( 5 ) using a selected radiation of the wavelength (λ).

The present invention relates to an artificial nail for application to a human natural nail, especially with a method and an apparatus for making and fixing of artificial nails on human natural nails for cosmetic-aesthetic purposes and to protect the nerves in the fingers and toes, and this so-called flexible tip can be easily adapted to the given shape of the natural nail.

A preparation for the coating of finger or toe nails and a corresponding method are known in the prior art from EP 0954230 B 1.

Herein, a method for the application of artificial nails using so-called there nail wrap packaging with a fiber fabric, and an effective amount of a polymerization catalyst, which is embedded in a tissue, is disclosed.

Furthermore, an adjustable artificial nail and its manufacturing process have become known from EP 1415567 B1, in which a preformed polymer body by means of a deformable mass and a certain material between the natural nail and the polymeric body is adapted, and the thickness of a portion of the artificial fingernail is in the range 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm.

Furthermore, the German Patent DE 36 20 568 discloses an artificial fingernail tip, which exhibits tissue parts at certain zones of the artificial fingernail tissue parts, which are integrated into a moldable material.

Furthermore, a reinforcement of a finger nail has become known from the German Gebrauchsmuster 84 23 883.6, which covers the entire natural nail and a protector such as glass fiber or the like and has the thickness between 0.1 mm and 1.0 mm, wherein 0.5 mm are preferred as a plectrum substitute.

It is a disadvantage of these methods in general that they are very time consuming in practice, and a certain cleverness or skill is required for processing the individual components.

Furthermore, naturally there are ten different sizes of the finger nails, which are also formed in different domes or arches in order to cover the different forms of the natural nail. This fact plays an important role depending on the strength of the object.

It is in general disadvantageous with these methods that they are very time consuming in practice and require a certain skill and cleverness to handle the individual components.

There are also naturally usually 10 different sizes of nails, which are formed in different arches and domes, in order to cover the most different shapes of the natural nails. This fact plays an important role as a function of the strength of the object.

In the nail industry today there are two different techniques to extend the natural nail today:

Template modeling and Tip & Overlay.

In Europe, Tip & Overlay technique is most commonly used as the template modeling requires a certain know-how, and all the materials cannot be worked on a template.

Another disadvantage which can be seen in the prior art is that the conventional artificial nails available on the market require a great dexterity and knowledge of processing.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to furnish an artificial fingernail, which eliminates the problems in the state of the art and which decreases the time consumption when placing of the artificial nail.

This object is obtained by the characterizing features of the main claims. Additional inventive features are described in the dependent claims and the description.

The artificial nail according to the invention to be placed on the surface of natural nails of a human hand or foot, is characterized by at least one component (layer) of a fiberglass material in which the fiberglass material is a fiberglass material embedded in a plastic synthetic resin matrix and the artificial nail is formed C-shaped in cross section transversely to the longitudinal axis at a substantially uniform material thickness (d) of about 0.1 mm to about 0.5 mm, preferably between about 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm. The invention process for the preparation of artificial nails with at least one mold part comprises the following process steps:

-   -   Coating the interior side of the concave recesses of the molding         part with a connection resistant material such as Teflon;     -   Placing a thin layer of a fiberglass braid weave;     -   Applying a layer of a particular resin to be included in the         fiberglass layer;     -   Placing a thick non-adherent material, such as silicone, to the         already placed layers;     -   Pressing a stamp of a yielding material onto the layer of         fiberglass impregnated with synthetic resin for adaptation to         the curvature of the at least one concave recess in the at least         one first mold part; and     -   then curing the formed layers of fiberglass and resin in a         radiation of a predetermined wavelength (λ).

The method according to the present invention for attaching at least one artificial nail on a human natural nail of a human hand or foot contains at least the following essential steps:

-   -   Applying a layer of curable adhesive onto the surface of the         natural nail, and     -   Setting up the artificial nail onto the layer of curable         adhesive to fix the final position of the artificial nail on the         natural nail; and     -   Irradiating the adhesive layer with a radiation of a         predetermined wavelength (λ) until the adhesive layer is cured.

It is advantageous that the specific weight of the fiberglass layer has a value between 10 and 30 g/square meters.

Furthermore, it is advantageous that the layable thick resilient material, such as a silicone sheet, is from about 5 mm to 30 mm thick and covers the complete surface of the mold part.

It is also advantageous that a white special resin is applied, for example sprayed on, and is received by the fiberglass layer.

It is also advantageous to perform the forming step process of the fiberglass weave in a plastic resin bath.

Another advantage is the feature that the time interval during which the pressure plate exerts pressure onto the applied layers amounts to from 1 to 8 minutes.

is.

It is also advantageous to use graphene as starting material for the artificial nail, whereby the thickness (d) can be selected to be smaller than 0.1 mm. It is also advantageous that the time period for hardening of the layers in a radiation of a predetermined wavelength (λ) is between 10 seconds and 4 minutes depending on the wavelength of the radiation used.

It is also advantageous in that the molded and cured fiberglass matrix is fed to a cutting device, such as a punch or a laser cutting device, such as C02 laser, which cutting device cuts the individual artificial nails into their predetermined shapes, lengths and widths.

Further, it is preferable that the adhesive used on the natural nail already has a slight adhesive effect shortly after application.

It is also advantageous that the adhesive used has gel properties.

It is also advantageous that the radiation used is ultraviolet radiation.

It is also advantageous that the radiation used is blue light.

It is also advantageous that the infrared radiation used has shares.

It is also advantageous that another layer (modeling material) is applied to the surface of the artificial nail.

It is advantageous that the artificial nail is made from a

fiberglass material and the artificial nail and is arched c-shaped, wherein the arch is formed in both the longitudinal direction and transversely to the longitudinal direction, preferably transversely to the longitudinal axis of the artificial nail, wherein the curvature as formed in the longitudinal direction is less than transverse to the longitudinal axis.

Another advantage is seen in the fact that the flexibility of the C-shaped curvature of the artificial nail is determined such that the C-shaped arches are adapted to the respective nail curvature of the natural nail at placement. It is further of advantage that the arching and/or curvature of the surface of the artificial nail have different radii of curvature.

It is also advantageous that the thickness of the fiberglass material of the artificial nail is between 0.1 and 0.8 mm, preferably is between approximately 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm, wherein the material thickness (d) over the entire artificial nail is substantially homogeneous and constant.

It is particularly advantageous that the artificial nail is transparent (clear). A further advantage comprises that the device for attaching at least one artificial nail to a natural nail of a human hand or foot by irradiation with an appropriate radiation of a predetermined wavelength (λ), that essentially an inner chamber of the apparatus is substantially arranged below a radiation source only for the tips of the fingers or, respectively, of the foot.

It is also advantageous that the gel adhesive layer exhibits acrylatologomeric parts for fixing the artificial nail on the natural nail.

In the following, the invention will now be described with reference to drawings. There is shown in:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a finger tip/toe tip (2.2′) with an attached artificial nail (4);

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the device (1) for the irradiation of human finger tips or toe tips;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the apparatus (10) for producing at least an artificial nail (4) consisting of fiberglass-like material;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the finished artificial nail (4) transverse to the longitudinal axis;

FIGS. 5 a-5 c are schematic top plan views of three embodiment examples of an artificial nail (4);

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of another embodiment example of the various process steps for producing an artificial nail (4) having a predetermined thickness (d).

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of the tip 2 of a human finger of the hand or toes 2′ of the foot. An adhesive layer 5 to be applied is disposed between the natural nail 3 and the artificial nail 4, wherein the adhesive layer 5 to be applied attaches the artificial nail 4 onto a portion of the natural nail 3. For this purpose, the adhesive layer is applied thinly to the surface of the natural nail 3, and is exposed for a short time to a radiation for example in the apparatus 1, a radiation exposed to the medium to high viscosity, which gives the adhesive a medium to strong viscosity, thereby the adhesiveness of the adhesive is influenced so that the artificial nail 4 while in fact adhering, but is not yet fully fixed in its final position, so that the artificial nail can be moved in order to be placed in its final position, may appear to be most advantageous to the overall image of the hand 4. The artificial nail is made of a thin fiberglass plastic resin material of the thickness (d) of about 0.1-0.4 mm made, preferably about 0.1 mm to about 0.2 mm, which means that the artificial nail can be easily treated through 4 cutting tools and files. In one embodiment, the artificial nail 4 is slightly convex on the surface, and the ends extending in a rounded tip 6, 6′. Basically, two embodiments of the artificial fingernail according to the invention are provided, wherein an embodiment is curved longitudinally and transversely, and a further embodiment is only arched transversely to the longitudinal axis c-shaped. Here, in both embodiments the ends 19, 19′ straight or shaped, either curved inwards or outwards, or a mixture of the two, one side to the inside and the other side to the outside, which depends on the application (see FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, 5 c).

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a possible embodiment example of a portable apparatus of the present invention for irradiating of the finger tips or, respectively, toe tips together with the applied artificial nails 4. The apparatus 1 has an inner space chamber 7 wherein the finger tips 2 or toe tips 2′ are inserted simultaneously into the chamber, so as to irradiate for a predetermined time at a selected, adhesive-specific radiation from a radiation source 8, whereby the hardening process of the adhesive layer 5 is effected. The heat generated due to the radiation is removed by means of a blower and exits through the inlet opening 9.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view a possible device 10 for forming at least one thin, flexible fiberglass artificial nail 4.

The apparatus 10 is composed having at least one concave recess 12. The surface of the first mold part 11 is combined with the concave recess 12 first with a compound immune, permanent, non-removable layer 13, such as Teflon, is to prevent the matrix 14 to be formed and made of fiberglass material and an appropriate light or white synthetic resin connects with the surface of the first mold part 11 and thereby no smooth surfaces of the artificial nail 4 can be generated.

A further layer 14 made of fiberglass material is positioned above the layer 13 during the production, which further layer 14 forms part of the artificial nail 4 to be produced in the subsequent process steps. The fiberglass material 14, whose specific weight preferably lies between 15-30 g/m², is soaked before processing or deformation with a special resin, which ultimately causes among other things, that the processed and cured fiberglass material is formed transparent in the

formed state. A relatively thick resilient

Material 15, such as silicone, is disposed between the layer 14 and a second mold part 16 having at least one convex bulge 17 in order to distribute the pressure (p) exerted by the punch 16 on the fiberglass material uniformly. The punch 16 is thus moved to the first layer 15, which only delayed transfers the pressure (p) on the matrix 14 made of fiberglass and plastic resin. The thickness of layer 15

is between 3-30 mm, wherein the material is for example a suitable silicone. The actual manufacturing process, i.e. in particular the deformation of the fiber glass matrix 14 is performed either under vacuum or in a liquid, e.g. synthetic resin, for which the individual components are housed in a housing 18, which serves inter alia to improve the distribution of the particular resin. The deformation process takes between 1 to 8 minuets, which depends on the respective material used. When shaping the fiberglass matrix 14 in a synthetic resin bath, spraying the fiberglass weave with resin is dispensed with and is replaced by soaking the fiberglass material in a clear synthetic resin bath. Otherwise, the deformation process is similar as stated before. Following to the deformation of the matrix 14, then the matrix 14 is during a time period of 30 seconds up to 5 minutes subjected to a radiation of a predetermined wavelength (λ) or of another field, e.g. subjected to a temperature field, which causes hardening of the layers or, respectively, the matrix 14, wherein the field is generally an ultraviolet-radiation. Following the curing of the molded artificial nail 4, the first mold part 11 is fed to a punch, which punch punches out of the composite matrix made of fiberglass material and synthetic resin at least one artificial nail 4, wherein the length and width of the artificial nails are variable adjustable and selectable.

In another method of cutting artificial fingernail tips 4, the deformed matrix 14 is fed to a laser cutting machine, which laser cutting machine cuts out the arbitrary infinitely adjustable forms (compare FIG. 5 a-5 c) of the artificial nails with, for example, a 300 watt C02 laser.

The severed prefabricated artificial nail tip 4 is substantially c-shaped in cross section to the longitudinal axis, wherein the circular arc can have different radii.

FIG. 4 shows schematically a cross section transverse to the longitudinal axis of the artificial nail 4 of an embodiment example. The curvature of the finished artificial nail 4 can also be different at different points of the artificial nail 4, for example, the curvature may be greater in the region of edges 19, 19′ or in the middle 20 than at the remaining surface of the artificial nail 4. In the simplest embodiment, the curvature depends on the radius (r), of curvature, which can be different for each of the fingers or toes of the human body. The radius varies normally between 5 mm and 10 mm (5 mm<r<10 mm) and is preferably 7 mm, while the center point angle (α) is disposed between 30° and 130° (30°<α<130°), and preferably between about 50° and 100°. The thickness (d) of the artificial nail 4 is essentially the same in all places, so that no different biases in the processing of artificial nail occur. In practice, the radian is determined such that upon a pressing down of the artificial nail 4, then the edges 19, 19′ come to the nail bed of the natural nail in the area.

FIGS. 5 a to 5 c show a schematic top plan view of three embodiment examples of the artificial nail 4 in which the edges 19, 19′ are disposed parallel to each other. In other embodiments, the edges 19, 19′ are disposed at a predetermined angle to each other, which depends on the intended use, that is according to the individual shape of the natural nail 3. The two ends 22 of the artificial nail 4 are straight in FIG. 5 a, wherein the ends of the artificial nail 4 in FIG. 5 b are once straight and once bent, and the ends of the artificial nail 4 in FIG. 5 c are bent once again convex and once concave.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of an apparatus for producing an inventive artificial nail 4 in a side elevational view. The pre-fabricated matrix 14′ made out of at least one component from fiber glass is fed first to a roller unit 23, which roller unit brings the matrix 14 to a predetermined thickness (d) contacting the matrix in a special resin bath 24 and which roller unit 23 brings the pre-fabricated matrix 14 to the predetermined final thickness d, and surface smoothness in a post-treatment step. The distances between the rollers 23 ultimately determine the thickness (d) and the roughness of the surface of the artificial nail 4. Subsequently, the pre-fabricated matrix 14 is fed to a deforming unit 25, wherein the curvatures of the artificial nails are formed in the deforming unit 25 into the matrix, and are cured by means of a specific radiation, for example UV-radiation. After the deformation process of the matrix 14 and the curing of the employed material, the formed matrix 14′ is fed to a cutting device 26, wherein the artificial nails 4 are cut out in the cutting unit and are supplied to a packing unit (not shown) for packaging.

The present invention could replace substantially the tip and overlay technology with the technique described in the present invention, since the technique described in the present invention reduces the processing time in the nail salons on the one hand and is more cost effective on the other hand. Furthermore, with the present invention, an artificial nail 4 and an apparatus 1 for manufacturing the artificial nail 4 out of a matrix 14 with a fiberglass and a suitable resin is presented with the present invention. The artificial fingernail 4 exhibits excellent properties in terms of flexibility and adaptability to the respective individual finger tips 2 or toe tips 2′. Here, the thickness (d) of the pre-fabricated artificial nail (tip) is substantially homogeneous and is about 0.1 mm to 0.4 mm. The artificial nail 4 is attached with a special curable adhesive 5 on the natural nail with a radiation of a selected radiation wavelength (λ). 

1. An artificial nail (4) for placing on the surface of natural nails (3) of a human hand or foot, characterized by at least one component (layer) of a fiberglass material in a synthetic resin matrix (14), in which the fiber glass material is embedded, and the artificial nail (4) is formed C-shaped in cross-section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, with a substantially uniform material thickness (d) of about 0.1 mm to about 0.5 mm, preferably between about 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm.
 2. The artificial nail according to claim 1, characterized in that the bending of the C-shaped curvature of the artificial nail is determined such that the bending is largely adjusted to the specific nail curvature of the natural nail (3) at touchdown.
 3. The artificial nail according to claim 1, characterized in that the arching and/or curvature of the surface of the artificial nail exhibit different radii of curvature.
 4. The artificial nail according to claim 1, characterized in that the artificial nail (4) is transparent and substantially clear-sighted.
 5. The artificial nail according to claim 1, characterized in that the two ends in the longitudinal direction of the artificial nail (4) are formed straight or round or a combination of both.
 6. The artificial nail according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one component of the starting material for the artificial nail (4) is graphene, whereby the thickness (d) of the artificial nail (4) can be selected to be smaller than 0.1 mm.
 7. A device for fastening at least one artificial nail (4) on a human natural nail (3) of a human hand or foot by irradiation with an appropriate radiation of predetermined wavelength, (α), characterized in that substantially an inner chamber (7) for the fingers/toes is arranged beneath a radiation source (8).
 8. A process for the manufacture of artificial nails (4) to be applied to a natural nail (3) of the human body with at least one first mold part (11), by the following essential method steps: coating the inner side of the at least one concave recess (12) of the first mold part (11) having a connection immune material (13), for example Teflon; placing a thin layer of fiberglass; applying a specific resin to be received in the fiberglass layer (14); pressing on a thick material (15) not adhering at the fiberglass-synthetic resin-matrix (14) for example silicone; pressing a second mold part (16) with convex curves (17), which curves are complementary to the concave recesses (12) of the first mold part (11), into the applied layers (14,15); and then curing the shaped matrix (14) in a radiation of a predetermined wavelength (λ).
 9. The method according to claim 8 wherein the artificial nail (4) of at least one layer of a predetermined material such as fiberglass is made and the thickness of the entire artificial fingernail is substantially homogeneous between 0.1 mm and 0.5 mm, preferably between about 0.15 mm and about 0.2 mm.
 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the specific weight of the fiberglass layer (14) is between 10 and 30 g/square meter.
 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the coverable thick material (15), for example, a silicone mat, is about 5 mm to 30 mm thick and covers the entire surface of the first mold part (11).
 12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the special white synthetic resin is sprayed on and is absorbed by the fiberglass layer (14).
 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the time interval, during which the pressure plate (16) exerts pressure applied onto the layers (15,14), is from 2 to 8 min.
 14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the time interval for the curing of the layer (14) at a predetermined wavelength (λ) is between 30 seconds and 4 minutes, depending on the wavelength of the radiation used.
 15. The method according to claim 8 wherein the hardened matrix layer (14) is fed to a cutting device, for example a punch or a CO2-laser, wherein the cutting device cuts out the individual artificial nails (4) with their predetermined forms, lengths and widths.
 16. A method for mounting at least one artificial nail (4) on a natural human nail (3) of a human hand or foot, characterized by the following method steps of: applying a layer (5) of a particular curable adhesive to the surface of the natural nail (3), which already has a slight adhesive effect soon after being applied to the natural nail (3); and setting up of the artificial nail (4) on the curable adhesive layer (5), while fixing the final position of the artificial nail (4) on the natural nail (3); and exposing the adhesive layer (5) in a radiation field of a certain wavelength (λ) until the adhesive layer (5) is cured. 